Inside out

The Raiders have won three straight regional titles and hadn’t lost to Jay County since 2003.

Perhaps it was fitting that two days after Christmas, the Patriots proved that all that mattered was the present.

The Jay County High School boys basketball team shot a blistering 54% from the field to fuel a 60-55 home victory over the Wapahani Raiders on Saturday.

“We did some things that we haven’t done, just winning basketball-wise,” said Jay County coach Tyler Rigby, who praised his team’s ball security and defensive rebounding. “… Those things equal winning, and we haven’t done those. Luckily, we’ve gotten away with it a couple times, but we just grew up. We looked mature.”

In total, the Patriots committed just six turnovers and surrendered only two offensive rebounds. The clean outing was also an efficient one, as Jay County converted 67% of its shots from inside the arc.

“We’re playing at a better pace,” Rigby said. “We’re starting to find the area where we can play fast enough, but we don’t get sped up mentally and just make dumb decisions. We’re playing a little more under control, and I like where we’re at offensively.”

One essential piece in the Patriots’ season-best 60-point performance was Cole Forthofer. The center, listed at 6-foot-9, asserted his dominance throughout the night, tallying a season-high 19 points. He did so on 9-for-10 shooting and hauled in five offensive rebounds, equaling the combined total of every other player on either team.

“We knew coming into the game we were going to be the bigger team,” Forthofer said. “We had to punch it inside … It was a hard-fought, close game, but I was just having fun trying to play as physical as I could.”

The senior saved his best work for when he was needed most, tallying 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a thunderous dunk with just under three minutes to go. His reliable scoring helped fend off a frenetic Raider (3-5) rally, as Wapahani shaved its deficit to as little as three points with a minute to go after Jay County (5-2) had led by as many as 12 earlier in the night.

“It means a lot to me,” Forthofer said of the Patriots’ faith in him during crunch time. “Just doing what I can. Got to thank my teammates for trusting me with the ball. I trust them with the ball to take shots like that, so it’s a team effort.”

Jay County turning to Forthofer late in Saturday’s clash could be a sign of things to come for the Patriots, who will aim to glean more production from their post game as the season continues.

“We’ve talked about that all season, and this is kind of the first time where we really executed it well and looked for him,” Rigby said. “He just has a really good touch down there at that size. It’s really hard to find … And whenever you get to the paint that much, you play inside out. You’re going to get some good looks, some good things are going to happen.”

One beneficiary of those looks was Jayden Comer. The Patriot guard set up Forthofer’s late heroics by tying his career-high of 23 points despite not attempting any free throws. He shot 10-for-15 from the field and drained three 3-pointers, with his efficiency likely thriving due to Jay County’s presence down low.

“Just getting to the rack and getting paint touches, getting it in there to our big guys, and then (if) they don’t get it, they swing it out,” Comer said. “… (The coaches) preach that, getting it into the paint, because they’re going to get on them, and then it’s easy from there.”

What didn’t come as easily was curtailing a potent Wapahani offense, which outscored Jay County 33-29 in a spirited second-half effort. The Raiders were powered by Camden Bell, who produced 20 points in the final two quarters to finish with 26 on the night.

Despite Bell and the Raiders equaling the Patriots’ 54% shooting, Jay County did just enough to escape with the victory.

“They could shoot the ball, but we were doing a good job on defense, trying to play help and turning them over,” Forthofer said. “And that’s what it takes to win.”